How do you make the perfect cup of tea?

In Britain we drink a staggering 165 million cups of tea per day, or 60.2 billion a year, and apparently the average Briton makes their first cup of tea at seven and a half years old.

Making the perfect cup of tea is such a personal experience, and we all have our preferred brand of tea and possibly our favourite cup or mug. Some make it in a pot religiously, others brew in a mug.  Some add milk first, others don’t have milk at all.  With so many options on the market now when it comes to speciality tea and flavours there is something available for most discerning palates.

China tea pot, stainless steel tea pot, no tea pot, and then there’s the cup or mug option. Bone china, porcelain, with a saucer or without. Does the receptacle really make a difference to the taste?

Do you have a particular way to make your perfect cuppa? Do you have any quirky rituals? When it comes to your preference of drinking from a mug or using a cup and saucer, what is yours?